Anniston Star
February 4, 2003

Army revises emergency plan for water supply

By Sara Clemence
Star Staff Writer
02-04-2003

The Army is revising its emergency plan for Anniston's water supply in case contamination from the Anniston Army Depot makes the water unsafe to drink, officials said at a community meeting Monday night.

The Army also announced the results of recent well and spring tests and explained an upcoming test in which they will trace the groundwater's flow using dye. The announcements came at the quar-terly session of the Restoration Ad-visory Board.

The board advises the military on its cleanup of trichlorethylene, or TCE. The solvent was used at the Army depot for decades, and made its way into local groundwater from disposal lagoons and landfills. The chemical can cause nervous system, lung and liver damage.

For years the Army has been trying to figure out the extent of the groundwater plume, and to clean it up.

High levels of TCE showed up in some monitoring wells near the depot last year. Now, the Army tests Coldwater Spring, which pro-vides Anniston's water, and some wells in the area every month.

The tests showed that levels had climbed slightly in September and October, with some areas dropping back down in November.

"Over all these years it's been just been bouncing back and forth like that," said Susan Abston, manager of the Depot's Installation Restoration Program. As long as the levels are within the overall trend, she said, they are not worri-some.

The levels for the spring are still below federal drinking water stan-dards of 5 parts per billion, although a few wells used for testing ­ not for drinking ­ have been much higher.

If the TCE in Coldwater goes above the standard, the emergency plan will go into effect.

The plan was written in 1996 and is now being revised. It in-volves notifying the public, doing more testing to confirm the results, and building a treatment system at the spring.

It should take about a year to build the system. Meanwhile, the public will be safe drinking the water for at least 18 months even if contamination levels go much higher 5 parts per billion, the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency has concluded.

"Everybody knows the magic number of 5 (parts per billion)," Abston said. "That's based on an individual drinking the water for 30 years."

If TCE levels then go above 80 parts per billion, the Army will in-stall treatment systems in homes and give out bottled water to resi-dents, Abston said.

The bottled water could come from the spring, she said, but have the TCE taken out of it.

One resident at the meeting raised questioned whether the public would trust the water. Abston said the planning committee would consider that carefully.

Army contractors plan to trace the flow of groundwater with dye. The study will begin after the Army gets control of the water at Coo-per's Catfish Lakes, which borders the depot, Abston said. Pumping water into the lakes distorts the groundwater's flow. The Army wants to buy the property, or its water rights for a year.

Also at the meeting:

Laurie Haines, of the U.S. Army Environmental Center in Maryland, discussed other groundwater contamination sites around the country. At 34 of the sites, the Army has determined it cannot completely decontaminate the groundwater, not for lack of funds but lack of technology. Even so, the Army will still monitor the water and make sure it is safe for human use, Haines said.

David Baker, president of the local group Community Against Pollution, raised questions about educating the public on environ-mental matters. The Restoration Advisory Board needs to reach out to the community more and explain to them what is going on before emergencies happen, he said.